Is this too religious sounding?

I’m still looking for a middle name for [name]Magdalene[/name]. My newest idea is [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Maria[/name] [name]Che[/name]-----. What do you think? I’m just really struggling with this one! I love [name]Magdalene[/name], but nothing seems just right for the middle. DH and I are Catholic, so being religious isn’t terrible, I just don’t want an over-the-top religious name, if you know what I mean. My mom’s name is [name]Mary[/name] and there are a lot of [name]Maria[/name]'s in DH’s family, so it would be a good middle name for us in that regard. Your thoughts?

It does feel very religious, sorry, but I like it. [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Maria[/name] does remind me a bit of [name]Mary[/name] [name]Magdalen[/name].

You could try another variant of [name]Mary[/name]? [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Mariel[/name]?

Thanks elowen – yes, [name]Mary[/name] [name]Magdalen[/name] was the religious connection I was thinking about. I considered other variants of [name]Mary[/name], but everything seems so long and/or clunky with [name]Magdalene[/name]. [name]Maria[/name] seemed lighter and more flowy.

It does, absolutely. It does seem far too religious for me (as I’m not [name]Christian[/name] at all) but if you don’t mind it, I’d say go for it! It’s a beautiful name.

It does, absolutely. It does seem far too religious for me (as I’m not [name]Christian[/name] at all) but if you don’t mind it, I’d say go for it! It’s a beautiful name.[/quote]

I definitely agree with Elowen. I’ve always found [name]Magdalene[/name] to be breathtakingly gorgeous, but I’ve never really liked [name]Maria[/name]. I do like it in this combo, despite the religious thing.

Yes, sorry :frowning:
I should disclaim that I am not at all religious, in case that has bearing.

What are the other strong contenders that you’ve considered?

I actually like it a lot! Yes, both names carry a religious significance, but I don’t find it overwhelming. I would say that my preference is [name]Magdalen[/name] [name]Maria[/name] for flow’s sake, but [name]Magdalene[/name] is gorgeous. Would you call her [name]Maggie[/name] or [name]Magda[/name] or even [name]Mimi[/name], then, or would she be [name]Magdalen/name?

[name]Lemon[/name] :slight_smile:

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I’m glad you all like it. I guess it doesn’t bother me too much that it’s religious sounding, I just don’t want people to think we’ve gone all holy-roller or anything (we’re faithful, but we almost never go to church).

DH really hasn’t been open to considering any other middle name other than [name]Sophie[/name], but as I’ve written on here before, [name]Sophia[/name] is a name my sister and her fiance plan to use for the special meaning it has to his family and I’m leery about causing any troubles there. I did ask her to talk to her fiance about [name]Sophie[/name], but they have a lot going on and I haven’t heard back from her yet.

The other option I like is [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Sanne[/name], but I’m not sure what DH will think of that. I did mention [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Grace[/name] to him which he agreed was pretty but “not as pretty as [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Sophie[/name]”. :? I feel like [name]Grace[/name] is a little bit of a filler nickname these days – like [name]Anne[/name] or [name]Marie[/name]. We’ll see… Any other ideas?

[name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Maria[/name] is a beautiful name, with religious connotations. Being Catholic, I thought of [name]Mary[/name] [name]Magdalene[/name] right away. I do think it is gorgeous!
My next thought was [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Grace[/name], [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Rose[/name], [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Claire[/name], or [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Pearl[/name], which I love! :smiley:

Uh… what wrong with being religious? As far as I’m concerned, it’s cool if you are and it’s cool if you aren’t. Anyways…

I really like [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Maria[/name]! It’s fresh and timeless at the same time. But I recently heard a cool version “[name]Marea[/name]” it means tide in Italian. And [name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Marea[/name] definitely flows.

Other choices:

[name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Amelia[/name]
[name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Stella[/name]
[name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Chiara[/name]
[name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Clara[/name]

Good luck!

btw, I’ve never felt more blessed that my brother’s and sister’s ideas of naming kids are totally unlike my own!

Bro-- totally yuppie! Sis-- Puritan all the way! Me-- Grandma and Grandpa names!

I personally am not a big fan of [name]Maria[/name], although it does sound nice with [name]Magdalene[/name]. My immediate thought of a middle name to go with [name]Magdalene[/name] was [name]Olivia[/name]. To me it has always had the same vibe as [name]Sophie[/name]/[name]Sophia[/name]…[name]Magdalene[/name] [name]Olivia[/name]…the more I say it out loud the more I love it! Good luck!

~[name]Marcy[/name]

Funnily enough, my second favourite girls name is [name]Madeleine[/name] [name]Marie[/name], the French variant of your name! :wink: With the [name]Maria[/name] being for family, I’d say go for it.